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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Welcome Wednesday - Sydney Logan

Today we welcome author Sydney Logan.

Sydney Logan lives in the hills of East Tennessee. She has spent her life educating children and has recently made the transition from bookworm to author. She has a very unhealthy obsession with music, and her iPod is filled with everything from Johnny Cash to Eminem. When she isn't reading or writing, she enjoys playing piano and relaxing on her front porch with her wonderful husband and their very spoiled cat.

1.Have you always wanted to be a writer? How did
you get started writing romance?

I’ve always written stories, and I toyed with the idea of
majoring in journalism in college, but I decided to become a teacher instead. I
haven’t always written romance. Being a teacher, I wanted to write children’s
and YA stories, too, but I’ve found that writing realistic romances involving
adults is really what I love most.

2.Tell us about your writing process. Do you
outline, or are you more of a seat of your pants type of a writer?

I do not outline. I have a beginning, middle, and end all
planned out, but I tend to fill in the details as I go. I’m not saying that’s
the best way to do it, but it works for me.

3.Are there any romance novel cliché that make you
cringe when you read them?

I don’t enjoy love triangles. Too often, the woman is
choosing between one nice guy and one jerk, and it’s obvious who she’ll choose
in the end. I have a little more patience for triangles if the woman is choosing
between two decent guys, but for the most part, I don’t enjoy them.

4.What is the hardest scene you’ve had to write,
and what made it so difficult?

The river scene with Matt, Sarah, and Lucas in Lessons Learned was the hardest to
write. I don’t want to give details because it would totally spoil it for
anyone who hasn’t read it, but it was a very emotional scene, and I cried like
a baby while writing it.

5.Which of your heroines would you say is most
like you, and why?

Sarah in Lessons
Learned. Her love for Ferris Bueller and music? That’s all me.

6.What are you working on now?

I am editing my second novel. It’s called Mountain Charm and is scheduled to be
released in late summer/early fall.

A young girl needs to spread her wings, but a young woman needs roots.

High school teacher Sarah Bray never thought she’d return to Sycamore Falls, but a traumatic event at her inner-city school leaves her desperate for the sanctuary of her childhood home. Orphaned as a teenager and raised by her grandmother, she had severed all ties with the people of her hometown—including her best friend, Aubrey—in hopes of leaving everything behind her. By returning to her roots, an older and wiser Sarah hopes to deal with the demons of her present and confront the ghosts of her past.

While visiting the local hardware store, Sarah meets Lucas Miller, a history teacher who has recently transferred from New York. She discovers a kindred spirit in him and learns that he is battling demons of his own. As the newest faculty members of Sycamore High School, they form a friendship—bonding through Lucas’s culture shock and their mutual desire to build new lives in the secluded town. When they begin to open their wounded hearts and share their secrets, their friendship effortlessly evolves into romance, giving each of them hope that maybe they aren’t so wounded, after all.

Their newfound love is put to the test when Matt Stuart, the quarterback of the football team, shares his deepest secret with Sarah. Fearing the painful incident that drove her from the city has followed her to Sycamore Falls, Sarah grows fiercely protective of her student. Determined that history will not repeat itself, Sarah stands by Matt’s side as he faces the ridicule of his church, his teammates, and the school administration. When the conservative community finally learns his secret, Sarah and Lucas—along with the town of Sycamore Falls—are schooled in the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and love.